Aaron David Mermelstein

The following activity is a problem-based learning (PBL) activity for the communicative language teaching (CLT) classroom.  

The intended group for this activity is junior high, high school, post-secondary ESL/EFL students, or adult learners.  

The time for this activity can range anywhere from one hour to three hours, depending on the size of the group of learners, their language ability, and activity extensions.

First thing a teacher should say to the class: “Today we are going to do some pair work.  I’m going to put all of you with a partner and you both need to take turns answering all of the questions.”  

“Unfortunately, the world is not a perfect place.  There are many problems or situations that you might find yourself, or someone that you care about in. Your job with your partner, is to solve these problems.  Again, you both need to take turns answering all of the questions and you both need to explain the reasons for why you would solve each problem the way you would solve it.”

“Remember to ask your partner ‘follow-up” questions, to find out more information.  So, you need to listen carefully to your partner’s answers, so you can them good follow-up questions.”

Use the following examples (teachers can write these on the board or print them out with the activity):

Examples of follow-up questions: “What if….?” Or “Would you….?” Or “Why would you do that??”

“You do not need to convince your partner that your answer is the best answer, you just need to be explain why you would do what you would do.  Everyone is different and face situations differently.”

 

1) You family is very hungry and you have no food, no money, and no job.  Would you steal for food?

2) You hear the sounds that make you think your neighbor is beating his wife.  Would you call the police?

3) You hit a nice car in a parking lot and broke the front light.  Would you leave a note with your name and phone number to tell the person who you are?

4) You accidently run over your sister’s little dog and kill it.  Would you tell your sister the truth?

5) You accidently break a very expensive item in a department store, but no one sees you do it.  Would you just walk away without telling anyone what you did?

6) Your fourteen-year-old sister has started smoking cigarettes.  Would you tell the other people in your family?

7) Your teacher tells the class something that you know is wrong and many of your classmates are confused.  Would you tell the teacher?

8) You saw a parent spanking a child for no reason.  What would you do?

9) If you saw your friend’s boyfriend/girlfriend with someone else and they are acting like they are boyfriends/girlfriends.  Would you tell your friend?

10) You are travelling for several hours on a bus and you would like to go to sleep.  There is a small child running around making a lot of noise.  What would you do?

 

Extension number 1:  The teacher can come up with additional situations that their students find the solutions to, based on age, ability, culture, etc.

Extension number 2:  Each pair must come up with three extra original situations to ask their partner how they would solve the situation.

Extension number 3:  The teacher can utilize their students’ situations.  Have the students write them down on a piece of paper, then ask the students to pass their papers to other groups.  You can use a circular motion, so that the student situations can continually be passed around and discuss until everyone has finished.

Extension number 4: The teacher can have the entire class come together as one big group and then go through the list of situation and randomly call on different students to answer and explain their answers.  (Teachers can get creative on how they select students and have fun!)

About the Author: Professor Aaron David Mermelstein is a Washington State certified K-12 teacher with a Ph.D. in TESOL. He taught middle school and high school ESL before moving to Asia, where he’s spent the past 25 years teaching EFL at the postsecondary level. His specialties include: student-centered teaching methodologies. He’s an Assistant Professor of TESOL in the Department of Western Literature and Languages at National Kaohsiung University.